Lateral-motion roller assembly



April 14, 1931- T. H. sYMlNGToN LATERAL MOTION ROLLER ASSEMBLY FiledJuly 12. 1928 ll l I n f, 1 f I l l l l l l l 1 l 1 l 1 1 I f l l lPatented Apr. 14, y1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS H. SYMINGTON,BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO T. H. SYMINGTON i `8c SON, IN C., 0FBALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND I LATERAL-MOTION ROLLERASSEMBLY 'i' Application `filed July 12, 1928. `Seria1 No. 292,187.

yThe invention relates to railway ear trucks, particularly that typeprovided with rollers beneath the end portions of the truck `bolster forthe purpose of permitting lateral motion of the truck bolster and bodybolster as a unit vwith respect to the truck side frames.

It is a common practice to provide rollers located between the endportions of the truck bolster and an element or seat engaged upon thetruck springs. Two, three or possibly more rollers 4may be used at thislocation for the purpose of facilitating lateral motion of Vthe truckbolster. In 'actual practice it has Vbeendiscovered -that incase ofderailment of a truck the rollers fall out and are consequently lostresulting in obvious disadvantages on account ofthe necessity forreplacement and the expenditure involved therein.

It is with the above facts in view that I have devised the presentinvention which has for its general object the provision of a rollerassembly having means whereby the rollers are positively retained inplace so that loss thereof under any circumstances will be prevented.VAn important object of the invention is to Aprovide a roller assemblyin which the roller retaining means is` removable vin case it is desiredto replace a broken or worn roller or to disassemble the parts for anyother reason. v

Another object of theinvention is to provide an assembly in which the`ordinary bolster fmay be used .without change, or in which the bolstermay be modified Vso as to accommodate the roller retaining means, thecooperation of the retaining `means with the bolster=preventing anydisplacement of the former in service, it being necessary, in such aninstance, to remove the entire assembly from the truck before theretaining means be .detached for liberating' the rollers.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rlateral motion rollerassembly inwhieh the retaining means for the rollers may be formed asseparate elementssimply attached,

or in which the retainingmeans may form an integrallpart ofthe rollerseat member. de- Ypending upon the will of the manufacturer Y andthecontemplated cost of production. Y

An additional object is to provide an assembly of this character whichwill be simple and inexpensive to make, easy to assemble, positive inaction, efiicient and durable in service, and a general improvement inthe art.

To the attainment 'of the foregoing and other objects and advantages,theinvention Y preferably consists in the details of construc- Figure 3is a side elevation of one form of roller,

Figure 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing amodified roller, Figure 5 is a perspective View of the assembly detachedand illustrating the retainving means as diderently located,

*igure 6 is a detail longitudinal or vertical section through one end ofa bolster modied for use in connection with the modified type ofassembly shown in Figure 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral l designates atruck side frame havingthe usual window opening 2 which receives thereduced end portion 3 of jdie truck bolster 4.l The bolster is shown ashaving a center bearing 5 receiving the center plate, 6 on the bodybolster 7 which in the present instance is represented as provided withdepending bearing elements 8 cooperating with side bearingst) on thetruck bolster. The side bearing structure does not enter into thepresenty invention but is shown simply as being conventional. Thenumeral l0 designates the spring plank which supports the spring nest llillustrated ,diagram-` matically, the nest `including any desired numberof helical or other springs, as is customary, located between the springcaps l2. These springs support the truck bolster and it is between thesprings and the bolster that Sli] -, 1928, though this A' complishedinvarious ways thev lateral motion roller assembly is mounted.

In carrying out the invention, I provide an assembly which includes aseat member indicated generally at 13 which is preferably of general,rect-angular shape and of a size to fit within the window opening 2, themember having spaced outstanding ribs 111 engaging against the oppositesides of the pedestal guides or sides of the window opening.

The underside of the memberv 13 .is preferably recessed or formed withaperipheral flange 15 so as to receive the upper spring cap 12. The topsurface of is shown as formed withsimilar curved portions 16 which may,if desired, have the Vsame shape as disclosed in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 292,186 filed July 12,

is not necessary. AThe rollon the curvedfsurfaces 16 surfaces 18 ers 17are mounted and in turn bear against curved on the underside of thebolster. ferred number of rollers is two though I do not wish to belimited'in this respect as more may be employed if desired. It ispreferable that the underside of the bolster be onset upwardly asillustrated so as to permit the use cfvrollers of greater diameter than"ould otherwise be possible without changing the dimensions of the otherparts. While the surfaces 16 and 18 are shown and described aspreferably curved it will be understood that they might be inclinedinstead if such should be found desirable for any reasonV and it iscontemplated that they may 'I be made in this shape or that there may bea combination of curved and inclined surfaces, for instance as set forthin said co-pending application aboveidentified. A

The principal feature of the invention is the provision of means ers inplace with respect to the seat member 13 so that theV entire assemblywill constitute a unit capable of being handled as such withoutdisconnection or disassociation ofl jdie parts, this feature being ofprime importance in preventing loss of the rollers in case ofderailinentof afcar. T iis result may be acy and in Figures v1 andf2 Ihave shown the 'rollers as provided at their ends with reducedextensions or trunnions 19 engaged by metal straps orbands 2O y whichexl end the length of the seat member v therethrough and pro] 13 inembracing'relationthereto with their end port-ions curved downwardly at21 and terminating in hooks 22 engaged beneath the flangesl. 1 y

.Instead fof being formed with the trunnionsl 19, the rollers may beconstructed as shown in VFigure 4 Vwherein the roller 17L is disclosedfas havinga shaft 23 extending thereof. v Whether the shaft be loose ortight 1 is immaterial.

have illustrated a '-InvFigures' 5 and 6 I need lmediiicationV in whichthe rollersv 17b the seat member 134 The pre-V for retaining the roll'ecting beyond the ends` not be provided with either the trunnions 19 orthe shaft 23 inasmuch as use is made of a single retaining strap or band24 similar to the bands 20 and hooked under the lian-ge 15 as abovedescribed. This single band is preferably loc-ated'at the center of theseat member 13 and bears directly upon the rollers themselves. In thisinstance the underside of the bolster end must be grooved as shown at 25for the accommodation jof the retaining strap or band andA it will beobserved that when theband is engaged within this groove it cannotbecome displaced laterally, that is to say lengthwise of the rollers. Itcannot become displaced in the other direc tion asthe hooked ends areengaged beneath the flanges 15.

The assembly is installed within the truck in substantially the sainemanner as one unprovided with retaining means for the rollers and it isobvious that in operation the rollers will act in identically the samemanner as those in other devices of this general type. It is well knownthat when there is any tendency lof the car bodyfto move sideways, asfor example when rounding a curve or when passing over a low spot in arail, they truck and body holsters will, as a unit, move later4 allywith respect to the truck side frames, the surfaces v16 and 18cooperating with the rollers to permit this movementv and at the sametime to effect a lifting action which neutralizes or at least partiallycounterbalances the tendency of thecar to move laterally. The underlyingVtheory relating to the provision of lateral motion devices is so wellknown that further detailed explanation of the operation is` thought tobe superfluous.` The principal feature in the present structure is thateven though a truck be derailed the rollers cannot 'work out and becomelost.

.that the construction, operation and advantages will be readilyapparent to one skilled in the art without further explanation.

IVhile I have shown and describedl pre ferred Aembodiments of theinvention, it should be understood that the disclosure is merely anex'einplification of the principles involved as the right is rreservedto malte all such changes in the details of construction as will widenthe fiel'dof utility and increase the adaptability of the deviceprovided such changes constitute no departure vfrom Vthe spirit of theinvention or the scopel'of the claims hereunto appended. f Y

VHaving thus described the invention, I claim: v

1. yIn a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supporting'springs therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between theseat member and the underside ofthe bolster, andmeans em-` V` bracing the seat member transversely of the rollers forretaining the rollers upon the seat member.

2. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat memberniountedupontliesprings, rollersinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans embracing the seat member and continuously over lying the rollersfor retaining the rollers upon the seat'member.

3. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingspringsV therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans for retaining the rollers uponthe seat member, said means beingreceived within the bolster.

4. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat member mounted upon thersprings, rollers havingtheir axes transverse to the bolster interposed between the seat memberand the underside of the bolster, and means for retaining the rollersupon the seat member, said means comprising a metal band overlying therollers and having its ends embracing the seat member.

5. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat meni-ber mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans for retaining the rollers upon the seat member, said meanscomprising a metal band overlying the rollers and having its endsconnected with the seat member at the underside thereof.

6. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans for retaining the rollers upon the seat member, said meanscomprising a metal band overlying the rollers and terminating in hooksengaging beneath the edges of the seat member.

7. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between the scat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans for retaining the rollers upon the seat member, Y said meanscomprising a metal band overly ers with its ends detachably connected beneath the edges of the seat member.

9. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rolleisinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans for retaining the rollers upon the seat member, said meanscomprising a metal band located above and extending transversely of therollers with its ends detachably connected beneath lthe edges of theseat member, the bolster having a longitudinal groove in its undersideaccommodating said band.

l0. A roller bearing assembly comprising a seat member adapted to restupon the spring nest iii a railway truck of the lateral motion type,rollers mounted on said seat member, and means engaging said rollers andextending transversely thereover for preventing disengagement thereoffrom the seat member.

ll. A roller bearing assembly comprising a seat member adapted to restupon the spring nest in a railway truck of the lateral motion type,rollers mounted on said seat member, means engaging said rollers forpreventing disengagement thereof from the seat member, said seat memberhaving a depending peripheral flange, and said means being detachablyconnected with said flange.

l2. A roller bearing assembly of the charaetei` described comprisingaseat member Lavmg flanges at its opposite ends, rollers mounted on theseat member, and a metal band engaging portions of the rollers andterminating in hooks engageable beneath said flanges.

13. A roller bearing assembly for use in a lateral motion truck,comprising a seat member adapted to rest upon a truck spring nest, aplurality of rollers mounted on said seat member and adapted tocooperate with the truck bolster, and means on said seat member receivedwithin the bolster and'overlying portions of the rollers for maintainingthe same against disengagement from the seat member.

lll. In a railway car truck including a truck bolster and supportingsprings therefor, a seat member mounted upon the springs, rollersinterposed between the seat member and the underside of the bolster, andmeans embracing the seat member and overlying the axes of the rollersfor retaining the rollers upon the seat member.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

THOMAS H. SYMINGTON.

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